Liverpool and China could be just the right match

It is not just the red flag with the five stars that make Liverpool and China
a natural fit.

Good news: Chinatown in Liverpool has greeted the potential takeover with warmthPhoto: HOWARD BARLOW

By Rory Smith

7:15AM BST 06 Aug 2010

Such are the funds apparently available to Kenny Huang and his mysterious backers that they might have chosen any football club in the world. They did not just happen upon Anfield, though. This is more than just chance.

True, England’s most decorated football team represent a sound commercial vehicle, an almost unrivalled investment opportunity. They are the grandest name in the country in the doldrums. By returning Liverpool to their perch, there is money to be made.

But it is more than that. Liverpool resonate in China, thanks to their prominence at the time when Chinese state television finally opened up its broadcasts to outside influences. And China resonates in Liverpool.

“Go to the waterfront in Shanghai,” says Jennie Wong, owner of Ma Bo restaurant on Nelson Street, just by the ornamental arch which represents the heart of Europe’s oldest Chinatown. “It looks just like the Liver buildings.” And parts of Liverpool, no doubt, return the favour. The city’s Chinese community is second biggest to San Francisco globally. They are fiercely proud of their identity, both local and ancestral. Little wonder the prospect of Liverpool falling under Chinese ownership is seen as a positive.

“I would feel a great sense of pride if we became a successful club on and off the pitch under Chinese ownership,” says Alex Woo, 20, a property administrator who sacrificed his Anfield season ticket in protest of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. “It would have financial advantages – merchandise sales in Asia and increased market exposure.

“Given the already strong links between China and Liverpool, and the large Chinese population in the city, I think Chinese ownership would definitely be a better fit for us than owners from, for example, the Middle East or North America. Potentially, I think it would be highly beneficial for the city, too, as I’d envisage an increase in tourism and commerce from eastern Asia.”

The concerns over Huang’s potential takeover, of course, centre on the mooted role of the Chinese government, though sources close to the China Investment Corporation, Huang’s apparent backers, dismissed reports of their involvement. Such a prospect, of course, raises the spectre of moral, rather than just economic, concerns.

“Human rights should not come in to it,” says Colin Ling, a Liverpool-supporting business consultant. “The only way to open the country up is to expose them more to the West.”